Enter If You Dare

[stamp11127]

Hey Andy, if you are going to take a hit you might as well blaze a new trail. Forget the Expy, be one of the first to get the high end Super duty F450. That bad boy will push you into 6 figures out the door.

 

[dlcorbett]

I think jexpy will be the first to blaze that trail lol

 

[JExpedition07]

I dont think the newer suvs are any less capable than their older versions, in fact i think they are more capable. If anything, the softly sprung "mommy" suvs are more capable than most pick up trucks in certain respects. The land rover suvs and the toyota landcruiser have always been benchmark off road trucks, go anywhere land yachts, yet have always been the best driving "trucks" relative to their class. Just because it doesnt "look" like a truck doesnt mean it cant be as capable as one. And truck like look is relative. In the expys case, the 1st gen was the only truck looking expy for obvious reasons. The 2nd and 3rd gen share certain parts from the pick ups(and other fords) but barely share any design influence. The 4th gen interior is a carbon copy of the pickups, yet its still not truck enough. Its rele no different from any of its competition. Im so glad that the lincoln decided the navigator "is" a luxury vehicle built it as such.

With that said its highly possible that a truck can be engineered to look like confident macho suv that rides like a cushy car yet doesnt handle like a land yacht that can tow a boat haul the family and ride the rubicon trails...wait lol.

You do have a lot of good points but the 4th gen is the least Truck like by Far. The 3rd gen shared the F-150 raised power dome hood and had similar headlights and belt line cues... the 4th gen is based off the explorers design cues Ford said it themselves whereas the 2nd and 3rd gen were based off of F-150 design cues as they have said. The 3rd gen expy interior had zero differences from my F-350 they are the same, they didn't share some parts they shared every single part. But your forgetting, what about people that need that capable SUV that can't afford to pay $70,000? That's what the expy and suburban were always for until recently, now they are forced to buy used. I would say your right though capability has improved at least on the expy. The explorer has lost all its towing and payload capacity and had its true 4x4 taken away... that is in no way more capable than the body on frame style previously made. But Ford is making good vehicles that are improving generally you are right.

 

[ExpeditionAndy]

Hey Andy, if you are going to take a hit you might as well blaze a new trail. Forget the Expy, be one of the first to get the high end Super duty F450. That bad boy will push you into 6 figures out the door.

Stamp, I'm crazy but my wife would kill me if I did anything like that. I fly radio controlled airplanes. My biggest 1-piece wing is 8' long so I need a big enclosed space and I like having the option of the third row seats. I also have a 1/3 scale Sopwith Pup WWI biplane. IT has a 90" wingspan but it is in three pieces. The fuselage is over 85" long and about 30" high when standing on it's wheels. They take some space.

 

[stamp11127]

Bigger planes require bigger trailers which require bigger trucks. So build a plane that needs the truck and trailer combo, the rest will be history....

 

[ExpeditionAndy]

You do have a lot of good points but the 4th gen is the least Truck like by Far. The 3rd gen shared the F-150 raised power dome hood and had similar headlights and belt line cues... the 4th gen is based off the explorers design cues Ford said it themselves whereas the 2nd and 3rd gen were based off of F-150 design cues as they have said. The 3rd gen expy interior had zero differences from my F-350 they are the same, they didn't share some parts they shared every single part. But your forgetting, what about people that need that capable SUV that can't afford to pay $70,000? That's what the expy and suburban were always for until recently, now they are forced to buy used. I would say your right though capability has improved at least on the expy. The explorer has lost all its towing and payload capacity and had its true 4x4 taken away... that is in no way more capable than the body on frame style previously made. I don't know what Road Ford is taking they have alienated a lot of their older consumer base. I here guys all the time say they will never buy a new Ford again because the prices have become to astronomical. I suspect Ford is trying to rid guys like me from their consumer base and become a classy expensive brand only.

I had a similar conversation with my salesman at the dealership earlier in the week. What he said, and he's been doing this for 30 years, is that what he has seen traditionally is that people will move to pickup trucks to get pretty much everything on the Expedition but at a lower price and only the staunch SUV guys like us, would consider paying full boat on a new one. I was fortunate to be in the right place and at the right time and had the cash to buy my truck outright. It is the cheapest way to drive it because there was no finance charges.

I believe we will slowly see the economy come back over the next 7 - 8 years. It is going to change and new industries will emerge and guys like me, my age aren't going to be the ones taking advantage of the new growth but it will get better for most.

Just my opinion, I could be wrong.

 

[ExpeditionAndy]

Bigger planes require bigger trailers which require bigger trucks. So build a plane that needs the truck and trailer combo, the rest will be history....

LOL - my wife would love that. I have a kit for a Cessna 182 with a 120" wingspan. It is my favorite plane. I bought the plans and the kit 17 years ago, I just haven't found the time to start it and I do need to get after it because time is a wasting. (But that one will still fit inside the Expedition when disassembled, so there is a method to my madness.)

 

[JExpedition07]

Don't get me wrong I love the new vehicles, they are capable and powerful with lots of extras, I just see a lot of people who once could do it that can't now. I went with a pickup because the expy wasn't ideal for loading things in the back or towing. I love the Expeditions, they are def more comfortable than the pickup and can do a lot. I'd go right back to an expy before a car or crossover. When it financially suits me I wouldn't mind owning one of each but as of now one is it for me. If you want to spend money on a non dually ridiculous truck get an F-150 Shelby super snake. 750 horsepower supercharged 5.0. Woo hoo.

 

[gtnator]

Thank you. More than likely I will have this at least 5 years maybe longer. I usually keep most vehicles for 10 years unless external circumstances require us to make a change. We had my wife's old car for 14 years till it was practically un driveable or worth fixing.

You know, this reminds me of a good (and much older) friend of mine who is ultra conservative with money and always has been. This guy rarely ate out, rarely spent money on nice vacations, rarely spend money on anything really. He just saved, saved, saved which is good to point, but he was probably the cheapest person I have ever met. He would also buy his cars with cash, and keep them for minimum 10 years and longer if they lasted. Get the picture on this guy?

Well, one day I saw him and he said to me, "guess what? I just bought 2 new Lexus cars yesterday. One for me and one for my wife". I was shocked! Especially since he had just purchased 2 new cars only 2.5 years earlier!! This is the guy that drives them into the ground. So I asked him, WTF??! What's going on? You know what he said? I'll never forget. He said that now that he's turned 60 he did the math and realized that if he only buys a new car every 10+ years, he may only be able to buy TWO, maybe three more! (that age expectancy was from himself). And he told me that he LOVES cars too much to only have two more. SO, he decided he's getting new ones every three years from now on. He knows it costs to do that, but man, is he HAPPY.

I think he's current view is ok. If one loves cars/trucks a lot, and getting new ones is what makes you happy, then DO IT. The flip side of course, is that some people who love cars/trucks, are so happy with their current old vehicle that to them it feels like the first day they bought it every day. Everyone's different. But its all good.

 

[njja]

Thanks John, I thought of that as well although selling something that that expensive privately is always a little dicey. Finding the right person and getting the cash or the certified check can be very interesting.

Well you're in luck. Saw your post and signed up. I'm in the market so if you decide to dare to go for the 18, feel free to send me your truck's window sticker and asking price, along with a trade in quote from a Ford dealer is possible.